Abstract: A physically compact, low cost, high performance 3D graphics accelerator is presented. It supports shaded rendering of triangles and antialiased lines into a double-buffered 24-bit true color frame buffer with a 24-bit Z-buffer. Nearly the only chips used besides standard memory parts are 11 ASICs (of four types). Special geometry data reformatting hardware on one ASIC greatly speeds and simplifies the data input pipeline. Floating-point performance is enhanced by another ASIC: a custom graphics microprocessor, with specialized graphics instructions and features. Screen primitive rasterization is carried out in parallel by five drawing ASICs, employing a new partitioning of the back-end rendering task. For typical rendering cases, the only system performance bottleneck is that intrinsically imposed by VRAM.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the use of graphics and visualization methods for statistical analysis. The traditional use of graphics in statistics had been principally relegated to simple two-dimensional graphics, such as scatterplots and histograms. However, modern computer graphics methods introduce a host of new techniques that literally allow an explosion of new methods for a much more geometric understanding of statistical and scientific data. Computer graphics allows an easy leap to visualizing three-dimensional data and to using animation, lighting, rendering, transparency, and a host of other techniques. The chapter covers some of the basic elements of computer-based graphics and gives an overview of some of the resulting statistical graphics and visualization methods. Geographic information system (GIS) is one of the spin-off technologies from the revolution in computers and computer graphics and is closely linked to spatial data representation via graphics. Geometry clearly plays a central role in computer and statistical graphics. If geometry plays a pivotal role in graphics and visualization, an equally pivotal role is played by the area of the vision theory.

Abstract: Hundreds of commercial applications used in mainstream design activities have demonstrated proven demand for 3D graphics rendering products. The demand is for faster and more powerful renderers, thus creating the system design problem of how to achieve maximum rendering performance from the technology available to implement the system. This paper describes a graphics rendering architecture that takes advantage of several novel architectural features: a custom floating point processing core with tailored data stores and bussing structures, the arrangement of these cores into a SIMD processor for low overhead multiprocessing, and the hyperpipelining of the fixed point scan conversion units for low overhead, high bandwidth pixel generation into an interleaved frame buffer. These features combine to form a solution to the system design problem which distinguishes itself by its overall performance and its ability to maximize performance while minimizing system size. The resulting architecture is capable of over a half million gouraud shaded Z-buffered triangles per second, with a sustained fill rate for gouraud shaded and Z-buffered pixels of 80M pixels per second. The architecture fits in a desktop workstation.

Abstract: The authors describe a data parallel method for polygon rendering on a massively parallel machine. This method, based on a simple shading model, is targeted for applications which require very fast rendering for extremely large sets of polygons. Such sets are found in many scientific visualization applications. The renderer can handle arbitrarily complex polygons which need not be meshed. Issues involving load balancing are addressed and a data parallel load balancing algorithm is presented. The rendering and load balancing algorithms are implemented on both the CM-200 and the CM-5. Experimental results are presented. This rendering toolkit enables a scientist to display 3D shaded polygons directly from a parallel machine avoiding the transmission of huge amounts of data to a post-processing rendering system.

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss both the aesthetic and technical concerns involved in the creation of synthetic hair and fur using our Styler and Hair Rendering software. Both pieces of software described in this paper were originally conceived for creating any kind of hair and rendering images of natural-looking hair. Taking advantage of the impressive realism of these images, we present in this paper an exploration of the software’s capacity to improve the appearence and quality of hair in synthetic human images, one of our main research areas.

Abstract: A potential problem in a common implementation of backface culling, a simple trick used in some polygon-based rendering algorithms to reduce the number of polygons that must be considered, is discussed. A solution to this problem and the solution's benefits are presented. >

Abstract: A current goal in volume graphics is a volume rendering algorithm that provides an elegant and controllable tradeoff between image quality and rendering speed. In this report we propose a slice-based volume rendering algorithm which attempts to address this goal. We describe both the basic algorithm and several ways that it can operate in an incremental and an adaptive manner.

Abstract: The latest developments in rendering, visualization, and rasterization hardware are reported in this volume, which contains revised versions of thecontributions to the Sixth Eurographics Workshop on Graphics Hardware, held in Vienna in September 1991 in conjunction with the Eurographics '91 Conference. The book has five parts and a keynote paper, "Issues and Directions for Graphics Hardware Accelerators", by Kurt Akeley. The first part of the book concerns graphics hardware design, including simulation and silicon compilers. The second part contains two papers on graphics systems. The third part focuses on volume (voxel-based) machines, describing two devices to facilitate transformations of volumes. The fourth part includes papers on rasterization systems, including character rasterization and scan-conversion of triangular faces. The papers in the last part of the book focus on rendering machines. They include a programmable rendering engine, primitive shaders, and radiosity implementation on a parallel architecture.

Abstract: Graphics window systems which utilize graphics pipelines and graphics pipeline bypass buses. Hardware solutions for window relative rendering of graphics primitives, block moving of graphics primitives, transfer of large data blocks, and elimination of pipeline flushing are disclosed. The hardware implementations provided in accordance with the invention are interfaced along the pipeline bypass bus, thereby eliminating gross overhead processor time for the graphics pipeline and reducing pipeline latency. Methods and apparatus provided in accordance with the invention exhibit significant pipeline efficiency and reductions in time to render graphics primitives to the screen system.

Abstract: Any successful technology for the construction of complex virtual worlds must be based on an expandable repository of components and a robust technology for assembling these components into progressively more complex objects and subworlds. There are two aspects to virtual world assembly: construction of physical shape and appearance, and construction of behavior. A representation for behavior that fully supports component-based assembly technology is presented. The representation is embodied in a software product which interfaces easily to existing modeling and rendering software. >

Abstract: ..fbswact \Ve propose a method that makes i t possible to inreractively rotate and zoom a volume-rendered object and to interactively manipulate a lLnction for transferring data values to color and opacity. The method ray-traces a L‘alueIntensity-Strength volume 61s volume) instead of a coloropacity volume, and uses an adaptive refinement technique in ecncrating images. Its elli-ctivcncss is cvaluated by using the results of visualization for [$YO 3 0 medical image data.

Abstract: To achieve real time processing for volume rendering, it is necessary to employ parallel processing techniques. Therefore, a ray casting wavefront architecture is proposed. The architecture offers the following advantages. By a special memory organization, the processor array can perform fast rotation along x, y, z axes without incurring costly memory transformation. The projection phase and post-projection phase are assigned to different processors and a significant time-saving can be achieved by the pipelining technique. In the proposed architecture, the projection processors can "skip" the transparent region and step computation when further computation does not affect pixel values any more, e.g., the rays reach opaque surface. Finally, according to the VHDL simulation result, the speedup of the wavefront architecture over several SIMD designs (including CM2 and the Princeton Engine) is about 200% under normal condition. >

Abstract: Despite the necessity of producing high-quality documents comprising all aspects of electronic publishing, there is still no system available that can generate and integrate two-dimensional (2D) graphics, three-dimensional (3D) graphics and high-quality text electronically. This situation becomes especially critical in the area of technical documentation where graphics as well as text play a major role. DaScript3D introduces 3D extensions able to handle and integrate 2D and 3D graphics as well as text in one tool. Based on the page description language PostScript, DaScript3D offers the power of PostScript on the one hand, and, on the other hand, all the characteristics and advantages of a 3D system.

Abstract: Presents DGPSL (distributed graphics processing support library) which is one of major components of the authors' distributed graphics processing support environment It is a facility for implementing graphics applications which require expensive computing power that is not available on single workstation The paper describes in detail the techniques in designing and implementing DGPSL >